‘The Vault” is an incubator space developed by the Vancouver Computer Graphics Association (VCGA), that allows indie filmmakers, visual effects artists, recent graduates and anyone interested in pursuing a career in the Animation, Video Game or Visual Effects Industries to learn and collaborate through group projects.

Through collaborative projects like ‘Galactic Battles’ and apprenticeships, we hope to help artists gain the resources necessary to be able to have a competitive edge in today’s job market, while also providing some quality content for demo reels and portfolios that the participants can be proud of. We also offer official internships to allow students from related schools to gain the experience necessary to learn industry-standard tools & pipelines and have something unique for their demo reels.

Another one of our primary goals for this space is to develop unique Canadian content for distribution worldwide, through outlets such as Film Festivals, YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix and any other medium available.

About the Space

The Network Hub has recently expanded into a 6,000 square foot location in Chinatown (188 E Pender Avenue), which is conveniently located near some of the biggest VFX houses and visual effects & game studios. This location makes it easy to have events and open houses, showcasing the new studio space in a centralized location.

This new location is the perfect place to set up the new incubator space, as it not only is centralized, but has resources that the Network Hub can offer, including collaboration with other co-workers, event space, included internet and power, mail services, and a great staff.

Use of the Facility

During Phase 1, use of the space will be limited to VCGA staff and active members of collaborative projects, such as the ‘Galactic Battles’ open movie project, or other VCGA-related collaborative projects. This would be at no cost to artists and users of the space.

Once we are able to move past Phase 1 and expand, the space will be opened up to VCGA members, or artists wanting to collaborate on projects, learn, or just check out the space in general. VCGA events would also be hosted at the Network Hub and open to the general public.

Corporate Sponsorships

For corporate sponsors of this project, we will be offering an ongoing partnership for training workshops and events. These workshops and events would be agreed upon by VCGA and our sponsors, in the form of monthly or bi-monthly events, focusing on their products and facilitated by VCGA.

All websites and publications for ‘The Vault’ Incubator Space would mention the sponsors and the VCGA website will showcase their logos (and links to their websites). The space will be branded as “Powered by Sponsors”, naming all companies who contribute to this project. Names and logos will also appear in credits of any collaborative film, animation and video game projects. If you are interested in sponsoring this project, please email us at info@vcga.ca.

Risks and challenges

The trickiest part of starting up a venture like this, would be initial investment. We’ve secured the location and already started setting it up and are moving in.

We’ve applied for some Federal Government Grants to help us get going, and it’s looking good. These grants will help us open the space and outfit it with equipment and software for our projects.

Although we have projects in progress that will bring money in the door, it may take months before we are self-sufficient. Any funds raised through this page will help us get launched to the point where we are making enough money to keep the space open.